As mentioned last time, Melly Potter's Baby Studio is back in March. Thanks to weather not quite ideal for photographing babies and toddlers outdoors, it will be much more effective to photograph your little treasures indoors!

Upon becoming a mother 15 months, I have made wonderful new friends and discovered fantastic hang out spots for small persons and their parents. One of these places is the Nest Baby Lounge close to Harrow town centre. Little one feels so much like home when we go there that it inspired me to make good use of this location.

I always thought studios were difficult locations to photograph babies and pre-school children. It can be intimidating for them. They have to “perform” at a set time. Their parents are a little nervous and they can feel it. It can work but it often doesn’t, unfortunately.

What about having a studio in a truly child-friendly venue, where they would feel at home and relax? Like the Nest…

So there it is!

Sunday March 13, 2016 from 10AM

It is a real studio with professional lighting, a variety of backgrounds and few tasteful props. No white-background-only studio here, though we can certainly do some shots this way if you wish. The good news is that since it is a pop-up studio prices are competitive when compared to high street studios.

You may have noticed that the studio is happening exactly one week after Mother's Day. A family session at the pop up studio will make a wonderful present... Book early (or start hinting now!) to avoid disappointment!

Lifestyle photography is something I truly love doing. This is why I spend the best periods of the year photographing families around their home and their favourite settings. Winter can be a little tricky for family lifestyle family photography. It works perfectly for teenagers and older children, especially if they’d like a slightly grungy look.

But with babies and toddlers?? Less so...

Below are images I captured not so long ago when North West London got blanketed in snow. There was about 2 hours between the time it was light enough to photograph outside and the time most of the snow melted. And then there was nap time. Of course, no way to keep mittens on her little hands, or to put thick woolly socks in her wheelies (She is still unable to walk if I do that). So we had a mere 10 minutes outdoor in total!

While I will cherish those images for years to come it is pretty obvious that I cannot offer to photograph families in the snow. Not in this country anyway! It is, however, the perfect time to photograph babies and small children in a studio setting!

Melly Potter’s Baby Studio is back! This time we will be photographing your little treasures on Sunday March 13, 2016. More to come in the next few days; keep posted!

P.S.: March 13 is one week after Mother’s Day. A family session at the baby studio would make a wonderful present! Start hinting now to avoid disappointment... ;)

]]>melanie@mellypotter.com (Melly Potter Photography)babyfamilylifestylephotographystudiohttp://mellypotter.com/blog/2016/2/lifestyle-photography-winterWed, 03 Feb 2016 22:52:16 GMTMelly Potter at the Harrow Arts Centre Wedding Fair This Sunday!http://mellypotter.com/blog/2015/2/WeddingFairHarrowArtsCentre
As just mentioned, Melly Potter will be happy to discuss your bridal photography needs and wants at Harrow Arts Centre this Sunday (February 22, 2015). The Wedding Fair is open from 11.00 to 4.00 and the entrance is free. Come say hi and tell your friends!

For you readers it may look like I had a long long break (more like a sabbatical, really) or, even worse, had closed my business altogether. Nothing could be further from the truth! I have simply been “busy with other things”…

The “thing” is called Anne-Sophie was born at the end of October and is totally adorable. Melly Potter now has her own Little Miss Potter! Admittedly, it has been a complicated pregnancy at first, though everything went really well. And once it got “simpler” it also got plain exhausting! I was still working throughout (although less, and with some help towards the end) but something had to give. Hence the absence of blog all that time...

Last wedding day before the baby (photo by my second shooter, obviously)

Anne-Sophie's very first photo shoot!

A more recent baby portrait of Anne-Sophie

I am slowly coming back to photography (other than photographing Anne-Sophie, that is) and making plans for the next few months. Lifestyle family portrait sessions are now available again (Saturday only for the time being). A new baby/toddler pop-up studio will also happen in the spring. Keep posted for details and to book your spot; I suspect these mini-sessions will be very popular!

And, of course, I am really looking forwards to the wedding season! So let’s get ready for the Wedding Fair! ;)

]]>melanie@mellypotter.com (Melly Potter Photography)ArtsCentreFairFamilyHarrowLondonPhotographerPhotographyPortraitWeddinghttp://mellypotter.com/blog/2015/2/WeddingFairHarrowArtsCentreThu, 19 Feb 2015 11:43:48 GMTA very Special Wedding Venue : The House of Parliament!http://mellypotter.com/blog/2013/10/special-wedding-venue-house-of-parliament
Apologies for the long time since my last post; there has been many projects keeping Melly Potter busy!!! Fear not, you will soon hear about many of these projects... ;) But for let's talk about what has been going on during the summer for Melly Potter.

During the summer, I had the chance to photograph a wonderful wedding in an amazing location; The House of Parliament! St Mary's Undercroft, the chapel located in the lower level of the building is absolutely stunning. A bit dark and therefore difficult to photograph but nevertheless astonishingly beautiful.

Warning: this is going to be a more personal post than usual. We moved house a little while ago (It feels like ages ago and yesterday at the same time, to be honest...). We moved a staggering 400 meters away from our former house which means two things:

1- We really love our neighbourhood,

2- It does not make any difference whatsoever for my clients since I work on location, not from a studio.

Details on the front of our lovely little cottage. Definitely not a new build!

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However, this does not make taking over a cottage that needs some TLC any easier! I thought we were not making any progress on the few spots we are working (part-time) to refurbish. However, few days ago I was revisited photographs I have taken in late March, well before we moved in. There were still items from the former owner in the house. I was surprised to see how much it changed, which is somewhat re-assuring about our progress!

I am showing you few some "before" and "somewhere in between" images from some parts of the house. The "after" images will come soon, hopefully!

Bathroom - Before:

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Bathroom - Now ("somewhere in between"):

The unpainted parts in the right corner will be tiled so we will have splash back for the shower. The tiling materials have already arrived and we should be able to do the re-grouting (and put back the tiles that have fallen off in the process) and new tiling this weekend. When I am not out shooting, that is...

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Dear husband is still working at the bathroom door, paint-stripping it slowly but surely (not an easy task!). It has to be done carefully as we suspect the bottom layer(s) of paint are likely lead-based...

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This is the garden office (MY office) "before":

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and now, "somewhere in between":

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This may not look impressive, but the walls, cupboards and the metal cabinets are now ready to be painted...

... with this...

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...in colours that match Melly Potter!

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This notebook may seem a little over the top but it came extremely useful when going to fabric sales to grab something to make a Roman blind at a ridiculous price (end of roll offer! :) )

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However, the part of the property that has the best improvement/effort ratio so far is... the garden!

Before:

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"Somewhere in between":

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Next time I should be able to show you tomatoes and aubergines! ;) Look: we even got a composter!

On the whole, it's a real big mess, but we love it and can see that the result will be lovely in the not-so-far-future. It's also significantly much bigger than our former place so it is perfectly ok that my current "office" is in the dining room, with many boxes everywhere...

I noticed that having so much DIY waiting for me only makes me more dedicated to my photography business; photography-related activities are pretty much always preferred to "stripping wallpaper", "applying poly-filler", "paint-stripping the bedroom". It's great for my clients, but no wonder the refurbs are taking so long...!

Another advantage of working with me this summer and for many months to come is that I am currently totally oblivious to all sort of mess! What has been developed as a "survival skill" in my own home does come handy when meeting or working in people's home. I truly mean it when I say I don't notice how messy it is, and it is NEVER as messy as our own home anyway!!! ;)

]]>melanie@mellypotter.com (Melly Potter Photography)http://mellypotter.com/blog/2013/8/work-in-progressThu, 15 Aug 2013 21:45:26 GMTA very warm wedding in Pinnerhttp://mellypotter.com/blog/2013/8/warm-wedding-in-pinner
I first met John and Jackie at Harrow Arts Centre Bridal Fair last winter, in the middle of a snow storm. It was my very first bridal fair and I was afraid that I would not remember the name of potential clients. I didn't need to worry! First, there weren't that many potential clients to start with, thanks to the snow storm :( . Second, I had such a good laugh with John and Jackie that when they emailed me that evening to book me, I remembered exactly who they were and I was very very happy to have them as my clients! (I am always happy about my clients to start with, mind you!)

After meeting them in a snow storm, I was to document their wedding... in a heat wave! ;)

It was the beginning of the 2013 heatwave. It has been the hottest day of the year so far (That record breaking title didn't last long though!) so we were not used to it and it felt SOOO hot, even if it was not that bad, really... ;) It was also bright and sunny, which made my work more difficult but it made everybody ... bright and sunny, which is always nice. Since John and Jackie spend a lot of their time in Spain, it was more than appropriate!

They live close to Pinner Methodist Church, so they made the most of the vintage Rolls Royces and both arrived in style, 30 minutes apart from one another._DSC7339_DSC7381_HDR_DSC7520_DSC7558_DSC7586_DSC7596_DSC7621_DSC7643_DSC7690_DSC7737_DSC7809_DSC7848_DSC8065_DSC8090_DSC8153

They had their reception in their garden, which was more than spacious enough for a marquee and plenty of open space left for people to mingle and children to play together.

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Overall, the general feeling was as warm as the weather on that day! Wish you all the best, John and Jackie!

]]>melanie@mellypotter.com (Melly Potter Photography)ChurchHarrowLondonMethodistPhotographerPhotographyPinnerWeddinghttp://mellypotter.com/blog/2013/8/warm-wedding-in-pinnerThu, 08 Aug 2013 08:21:33 GMTFamily Lifestyle Photography in Harrow on the Hill, North West Londonhttp://mellypotter.com/blog/2013/8/family-lifestyle-photography-harrow-on-the-hill
Or... Old MacDonald had a farm, EIEIO!

Through advertising Melly Potter’s Summer Offer, I received several nice comments about the main photograph I used for this campaign. My heart swelled up. Then I realised that I never actually blogged about this session, which is a real shame!

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I photographed this irresistible little boy, his two teenaged sisters and their mother during last August’s special offer. As we often do when little ones are involved, we started at their home, then made our way to a local park (his favourite, of course!).

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As usual I would be hard pressed to choose my favourite image from this family session. However, I have very found memories of the above image. The little man was in a very serious mood, so I had his sisters on either side of me helping me with the “entertainment”. We spent a rather long time singing Old MacDonald had a Farm on top of our lungs in order to make him smile/laugh. It did work but let me just tell you that we were getting rather creative about the sort of animals Old MacDonald had on his farm! I can almost hear it again everytime I look at this image... ;)

Few more gorgeous images...

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This session happened almost a year ago and we are now looking forward to our next session together. I wonder what we’ll be singing this year... ;)

That is why it's the perfect time to have a family portrait session! This is perfect timing; you can take advantage of Melly Potter’s special offer and get an additional image for free. With sessions ranging from only £50 (weekdays within HA postcodes) to £125 (weekends and Bank Holidays in Greater London, Herts, Bucks, Berks), you have to book fast to avoid disappointment; the offer is for sessions happening in August only!

]]>melanie@mellypotter.com (Melly Potter Photography)FamilyHarrowLondonPhotographerPhotographyPinnerhttp://mellypotter.com/blog/2013/8/summer-offerThu, 01 Aug 2013 08:24:48 GMTHow to choose your wedding photographerhttp://mellypotter.com/blog/2013/5/advice-to-choose-your-wedding-photographer
Maybe you found this blog pretty much randomly. There is a chance, though, that you ended up here because you are looking for a wedding photographer. I have heard all sorts of stories from friends and family about less than stellar experiences with wedding photographers. To help you avoid this sort of situation, I put together a list of advice to help you choose a reliable photographer that will produce images you will love.

Many photographers despise “uncle Bob” with a passion. Who is uncle Bob, you may ask? He is the wedding guest who insists on photographing the wedding “alongside” the professional photographer hired by the couple. Unfortunately, “he” (While there are “Aunties Barb”, they remain a minority.) tends to also be in the way of the professional photographer. This does make the professional photographer job incredibly difficult and even sometimes downright impossible. Ever tried to take a picture of the bride walking down the aisle when Uncle Bob jumps in the aisle between you and the bride? Good luck... (Another photographer gives many examples here.)

Well, Claire and Francis’s wedding was the exact opposite of this. There were few Uncles Bob but they were just... wonderful! I even sincerely thanked one of them for helping me capture different aspects of the ceremony. This gentleman was photographing the ceremony, but always from a different location than me. When I changed locations (which I do a few times during the ceremony, discretely of course) and moved beside him, he moved to another spot. Now this is the useful way to be an uncle Bob; complement the coverage of the professional photographer instead of being straight beside them! I do not know how this particular gentleman’s pictures turned out (I bet he did get some nice images) but he put himself in a good position to get images that would nicely complement mine. He didn't use flash (a big no-no during the ceremony and one of the best way to ruin the professional photographer's work) and he certainly did not disrupt my work at all.

So if you do feel like being an uncle Bob at the next wedding you are attending, I suggest you do it this way. However, I personally think you’d have a better time putting your camera down and enjoying the occasion properly, but the choice remains yours...

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While I do take capture some images of the food, I usually cannot spend much time producing close-up images as this gentleman.ClaireandFrancis-5398

He wasn't their uncle (He is a close friend of the couple.) and he wasn't named Bob (He flew in from Singapore... not many Roberts there!); the wonderful "uncle Bob" who second shot the ceremony the best way possible!ClaireandFrancis-6176

]]>melanie@mellypotter.com (Melly Potter Photography)BarbicanLondonPhotographerWeddinghttp://mellypotter.com/blog/2013/5/ode-to-uncle-bobSun, 19 May 2013 20:15:00 GMTClaire and Francis - Part One - Ode to Black and Whitehttp://mellypotter.com/blog/2013/5/claire-and-francis-wedding-barbican

Few weeks ago I had the chance to photograph Claire and Francis wedding at the Barbican, London. This may sound like an unusual location but I found it absolutely lovely! The lobby is interestingly modern with interesting spots for pictures. And then there is the conservatory on the top floor, where the ceremony took place and many of the couple pictures were taken. Claire and Francis told me that they loved the contrast between the greeneries and the modern style of the adjacent reception room. Their wedding was filled with wonderful people, many of them traveling from abroad for the occasion. Among all the lovely touches was their fantastic wedding cake that was made by one of their bridesmaids.

I am usually the biggest fan of colour photography; I absolutely LOVE colour! I am ok with Black and White but colour is one of the most exciting aspects of photography for me. Well, I was up for a surprise with this wedding. I took many photographs during the evening and was a bit underwhelmed with them at first; the magic I witnessed at the wedding seemed a little faded on the images... Then I turned few of them to black and white... and it was a revelation! It looked so much better in black and white; the magic was back! Well, I’ll have to make sure I give black and white a little more credit from now on! ;)

This lovely family has asked to photograph their son's first birthday. It was lovely to see so many young children playing together in harmony. I am glad I warned the parents that I would probably end up on the floor with their sons... I spent most of my time there that afternoon! We finished the session with a quick but fun family portrait.

]]>melanie@mellypotter.com (Melly Potter Photography)BabyBirthdayChildrenHarrowHillLondonPartyonthehttp://mellypotter.com/blog/2013/5/children-birthday-party-harrow-on-the-hillMon, 06 May 2013 18:45:00 GMTEngagement Session in Greenwich Park, South Londonhttp://mellypotter.com/blog/2013/4/engagement-session-greenwich-london
Before I talk about Claire and Francis wedding I thought I’d slip a post about their engagement session. (I know, such a tease...)

Claire and Francis live in South London and love both nature and architecture. Meeting them in Greenwich Park was a winning idea; great views on London but also lots of nature to feature in their photos.

It looked like it would be a bad day; it was raining rather heavily when I boarded the DLR at Canary Warf! By the time we met (I was a bit early), the rain had stopped and the sun was out. You would never believe the weather was so poor shortly before the session!

As usual, the engagement session has been hugely useful to get to know which style of posing they preferred and help them relax about the whole photography experience on their big day. This is in addition of all the lovely images we created together during the session!

Note: An engagement session is included in most of our wedding collections.

When I do family portrait session, I spend up to four hours with the family. This allows time for changing location, outfit change and account for some time to get used to the camera, especially for the little ones.

Once in a while though, things do not go as plan on the family side and the family ends up with very little time to spend at their photo session. It happened to one family in Teddington last Fall. They opted for a shorter session instead or rescheduling their session and we headed straight to Bushy Park, near Hampton Court. I absolutely love the pictures we captured on this day. Their little girl was absolutely adorable! The difference with a normal photo session is that there has been no wardrobe change and the surroundings, while gorgeous on that sunny day, remain similar throughout.

Whilst very happy with the result, I find it a little sad that I could not provide a different style of shots for them. It was their choice and they were also very happy with the result but I still advise family to give a bit more time to their session, especially that it doesn't cost an extra penny!

Warning: this post contains bad, REALLY bad pictures... This is a story about getting better at something, so please hang around ‘til the end!

I must reassure all my potential clients:

1- I have much more experience at wedding and portrait photography than at sport photography.

2- Even my very first attempt at portrait photography went much better than my humble beginning at sport photography... ;)

I am a wedding and portrait photographer. Sports photography is just not my thing. Usually. When you’ve got the best show on earth coming to your backyard, you may want to give it a try though. I am based in Harrow, on the outskirt of London and enjoy a good level of flexibility in my work schedule. I was able to go to town to watch many of the free events during the Olympics. I brought my camera along so I could give Sports Photography a little try, if only for a laugh.

So...

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This is my first two pictures of the Olympics, towards the end of the men’s road race (in South Kensington, about 1km before the end of the race). We can “see” the winner of the race (Alexandr Vinokurov from Kazakhstan) followed closely by the silver medal recipient (Rigoberto Uran from Columbia).

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Being a proud Canadian, I also wanted to capture a shot of the only Canadian competitor in this race, Ryder Hesjedal.

Oh my! Clearly Sports Photography was not my forte... But I didn’t give up (and it was so much fun to go see the action up close!) and I was back the following day for the ladies’ road race.

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I was better positioned this time, but the conditions were just horrendous! Nevertheless, the photography was improving...

Things start to look much better few days later at the time trial in Hampton Court.

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I captured many good shots but my favourites are Lizie Armistead (UK), the legendary Clara Hughes (Canada) and the no less legendary Bradley Wiggins (UK). Trust me, you could not miss Wiggins coming: the roar of the crowd was absolutely mad!

Then I changed sport. I watched the running leg of the ladies triathlon in Hyde Park. Although it was easier to photograph people running than cycling, I first found it difficult to produce images that were actually interesting...

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Nevertheless, here we can see the gold medallist (Nicola Spirig from Switzerland), the silver medallist (Lisa Norden from Norway), the bronze medallist (Erin Densham from Australia) and the lady who finished 4th (Helen Jenkins from USA). They were on their fourth (and last) 2.5 km loop, quite close to the end of the race.

However, my favourite pictures are from the men’s marathon. That’s when all I have learned started to pay off, I think...

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The last picture shows the three winners (Stephen Kiprotich from Uganda, Abel Kirui fron Kenya and Wilson Kipsang Kiprotich from Kenya). They were especially difficult to photograph because they were surrounded by security squads and camera crews. So unless you were lucky enough to be there...

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...it wasn’t easy to get a good shot of them!

Why am I telling you all this now, you may ask? Few weeks ago, I was asked to photograph a sporting event. Unfortunately I cannot post any pictures here (It was in a school) so you will have to take my word for it. I was a bit nervous knowing that my experience with sport photography has not always been amazing... Nevertheless, I am happy to report that it went really well and I got very good comments for the resulting images. One thing I do know for sure is that my little Olympics adventure made a huge difference in my skills and the final result. Practice may not make perfect, but it certainly makes better... much better! ;)

So, you may ask, what is Melly Potter up to these days? Simple: In addition to fighting one of a kind of a cold, I went through the ever interesting process of doing my very first self-assessment as a sole trader... (It’s all done now!)

Rather than bore you any further with the mundane details of my week, I thought you may want to hear more about some new products that have just been added to our menu... One of my objectives when I participated to the SWPP convention few weeks ago was to look at the wall displays available and decide which ones would become part of Melly Potter range of products. This was no easy task as there are, frankly, too many options out there. However, some products are definitely better quality and value than others. I felt madly in love with a range of luxury frames that, while being far from the cheapest around, are worth every penny in my opinion. I could not have them as my only option though; while they look absolutely amazing in large sizes, they offer limited options for modest size frames. For this reason, Melly Potter is now offering luxury frames, or better said, wall furniture but also more traditional, high quality frames of modest proportions. These two types of frames, along with fine art (canvas) wraps and modern aluminium prints, make our collection of wall displays able to fulfil every need tastefully! I included some pictures to give you a little idea.

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Here's an example of the new Luxury Wall furniture. The wood version is made of... actual wood! (Metallic frames are also available.)

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What is most impressive is how the photographs are mounted in the frame. The detailing is unique but classic and timeless. Frames are also finished with optical glass.

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This last picture is an Alumini print that sits in our living room (Yes, we do love it! I will get a proper sample soon though as ours is too big to be carries around...) It has a very modern look: it sits about 2cm off the wall with an invisible mounting to the wall. It works particularly well with colourful pictures; the glossy surface of the Alumini prints makes the colours pop even more!

I would be delighted to get your feedback; which products would you like to get for your walls?

Happy New Year everyone! May 2013 bring joy happiness and many nice surprises along the way.

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I hope you had a nice time during the holiday and that the return to work has not been too hard.

January is typically a very quiet month in portrait and wedding photography. There aren’t many weddings in January. It is also a quiet time for family portrait. I believe this is why most photographers tend to do “everything else” at this time of year: training, wedding fairs, marketing, personal projects, trade shows and photography conventions. I seem to have perfected this to an art form this year. January 2013 is certainly not quiet at Melly Potter! I will tell you more about the SWPP convention next time but for now I have to finish preparing for this weekend wedding fair at Harrow Art Centre.

Please do visit us at Harrow Art Centre Wedding Fair this Sunday January 20, from 11am to 4pm. Entrance is free and I’ve heard you can get lots of great offers from me and other wedding suppliers.

I had the chance to be the second shooter at Jill and Niall’s wedding, at the Grym’s Dyke Hotel in Harrow. It was a very nice wedding in a stunning location. It was also very nice to be two photographers on this occasion. Some parts of the photography took longer than expected; working as a team allowed us to cover much more of the wedding!

Last June, I had the chance to meet several local families during two community events; The Friends of West Harrow Park Jubilee Picnic and the Summer Fete of St Mary’s Church, Harrow on the Hill. In both cases, I was offering them a free mini photo session, completed with accessories and a 4x6 print. It was lovely to meet so many families and great fun to take pictures of everybody! (I show here few pictures of a family of friends who visited my stand and who gave their permission for their pictures to appear here.)

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My husband also visited the stand with his best friend during a quiet time. We successfully convinced him to pose for the camera… Not so sure about blue as a hair colour for him though… ;)

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Me and my stand during one of the event (Summer Fete at St Mary’s Church, Harrow on the Hill)